Bihar: Araria man gets death for raping 7-yr-old girl

ARARIA: A court set up in

Araria

under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Thursday awarded death penalty to a 48-year-old man, Mohammad Major, who was earlier convicted of raping a seven-year-old

Dalit

girl on December 1 last year.

"The rape of the child by the man involves extreme brutality, which has always been regarded as an aggravated form of rape. The girl was subjected to inhuman acts of torture and cruelty for the sole motive to commit rape.

The rape of the girl who was completely innocent clearly falls in the category of rarest of rare cases," special judge, POCSO-cum-additional district judge VI, Shashikant Rai, observed in his judgement Araria SP

Ashok Kumar Singh

said the convict had kidnapped the minor girl and tortured and raped her."We have ensured speedy trial in the case. The case was investigated and a charge sheet submitted within 41 days on January 12.

The death penalty to the convict will send a strong message to the society and create a fear among the wrongdoers," the SP added.

Special POCSO public prosecutor

Shyamlal Yadav

said it was the probably the first case when capital punishment has been awarded for commission of rape against a minor girl belonging to scheduled caste community.

Md Major had earlier denied all charges made by the prosecution in his statement. The defence lawyer, Md Mujahid, argued in Major's defence, saying his clienet was "falsely implicated" due to panchayat election enmity.

POCSO prosecutor Shyamlal Yadav prayed from the court to award exemplary punishment as Md Major for committing the heinous crime.